Sweet Dreams Are Made Of These
by SmagicalSparks
Summary: Mission accomplished. Now what? Will life ever be the same? Will they ever meet each other again? I don't own Inception, sadly :P


She woke up in a daze. Could she believe just seconds ago she was free-falling between so many worlds she could hardly see straight? Had they really pulled this off?

She looked blearily around the cabin and saw that the others were beginning to stir. It was when Cobb opened his eyes and shared the smallest of smiles with her then did the gravity of what they had achieved begin to sink in. They had successfully incepted someone's mind. And that someone was sitting right across her, sipping a glass of champagne.

She struggled to contain her excitement with a mask of nonchalance but as she caught Yusuf and Eames eyes she couldn't stop the smile that grew on her face. They did it! She wanted to dance for joy, wanted to shout their achievement from the rooftops, but she knew that could never happen. Nobody would ever believe what they had done, and not to mention the secrecy of what they had achieved will have to remain just as so. Saito was busy punching numbers into the phone, looking healthy and robust, if not a bit shaken. Whatever happened in the limbo, would stay in the limbo, she thought darkly. And then that was when she caught Arthur's eye. He was staring at her with the tiniest hint of a smirk at the corner of his lips. She smiled back, and the air had changed. His gaze fell on her lips, and for a second he held it. When he realised what he was doing, he quickly dropped his eyes to the floor and flipped open the newspaper that sat upon his lap. Why was he behaving so oddly?

As the plane prepared for touchdown, she thought back of the events that have happened during their mission. And that was when she realised the cause of Arthur's discomfort and her face turned a shade of pink. He stole a kiss from her during their mission on level one. She hid a small smile behind her hand. The cheeky bugger. But she didn't know what to feel. Dreams are dreams. This is reality. The kiss didn't have to transpire into something, she thought as the plane taxied to a stop. He could be an opportunist for all she knew. But as they grabbed their carry-ons and readied themselves to leave, Arthur's slight glance at her told her different.

* * *

Cobb walked past her with a small glance and a nod, making his way to the exit. She stared at the luggage carousel woefully. Is this how their collaboration was going to end? Were they all going to be on their separate ways? She understood Cobb's eagerness to be reunited with his family. That was his motivation for undertaking this mission after all. However, it felt wrong to depart with nothing more than a nod. Eames winked at her as he put the last of his luggage on his trolley.

"I'll see you around then?"

She smiled back. "Sure."

Yusuf gave a wave at the distance, which she returned and she found herself staring that the carousel once again.

"Need help?"

Ariadne looked up at him warily. He had all his luggage piled onto his trolley. Soon, he would be making his way too.

"I'm fine, it should come soon."

He just looked at her, and then stared at the carousel with her in comfortable silence. In a way, they were still wrapping their heads with the aftereffects of their acheivement, lost in their own thoughts.

A red bag floated down the conveyor belt.

"Oh." She made for it but Arthur was faster.

"Thanks."

He just looked at her. She felt her stomach squirm under his gaze.

"I guess I should be heading off too"

"Where are you heading off?", he asked.

"No idea". She really didn't plan beyond what would happen after the mission. She was too caught up in the planning of it that she forgot to make her own.

He laughed at her. She felt a bit miffed but realised how silly she sounded.

"Hey, don't laugh at me. I was too caught up with the planning that I hadn't realised…anyway what are **your **plans?"

He stopped grinning and paused. "No idea".

It was her turn to laugh, in which he shrugged and gave a small smile. "I usually follow Cobbs into another mission."

That statement hit close to the thoughts she had not minutes ago and she felt the pang of them once again.

"Hey, how about coffee?".

* * *

The bustling atmosphere filled with the thick aroma of crushed coffee beans was a big departure from their cold, dreamlike state they were in not hours before. The café at the airport was filled with backpack-lugging tourists, air attendents, pilots, children and trolleys stacked with boxy luggage; the sight and energy more than appreciated by her after their surreal experience.

"Do you know that bagels can seriously injure you?"

Arthur stopped cutting the round pastry in his hand and looked up.

"Your point being?"

"A lot of people end up cutting themselves holding the bagel the way you do. One guy had his left index finger accidently chopped off."

"You have to give me more credit than that." Arthur smirked, as he resumed his attack on the bagel.

"No it's true. Bagels are tough on the outside which makes people cut them with more force than necessary. And they can tear your oesophagus if you don't chew them properly."

"I just thought you were jealous of the bagel I'm eating. I'm touched by your concern." He smirked, slathering jam on his perfectly sliced bagel.

Ariadne's face grew hot. Was he implying she cared for him? " I was just sharing what I knew that's all".

"And I'm very grateful for it", he said before taking a bite out of his bagel. How was it possible for him to smirk and chew at the same time?

She hoped he choked on it.

Arthur finished off his bagel while Ariadne sat there drinking her coffee in miffed silence. He smiled inwardly. He knew he was getting to her. It wasn't often he had the opportunity to rile up a beautiful woman.

"So where are you planning to go from here?", he asked.

She stared at her empty coffee cup contemplatively. "I'll probably head back to Paris and finish off my degree".

He drank his expresso with a faraway look.

"I see"

"And what about you?", she asked. "Do you have family?"

"No", was his curt reply.

"Oh". And they sat in awkward silence. Ariadne played around with the fallen sultanas of her pastry on her plate when he quipped, "I would like to travel."

"That's nice", she smiled warmly. "But I thought you travelled a lot with Cobb?"

"For work, not for pleasure", he said.

"I see", she said simply.

"I guess you will be heading back to architechure then?"

"I've got no other choice. I've thought about working for Cobb again. The dreamworld is so seductive. But we know that's over now. Cobb isn't going to work this line again."

She had not noticed what impact her words had on him until she looked up and saw the mute pain on his face.

"It's been my life", he said quietly.

She nodded empathetically. It was harder on him than it was for her.

"What line were you in before coming to work for Cobb?"

"I was a fresh law student when Cobb found me", he said, looking at her in the eye. "I already had an engineering degree before pursuing a business law degree. Cobb thought it might be handy having a pointer that knew how things worked mechanically as well as politically."

" You certainly sound like the man for the job", she smiled. Unknowingly she caused Arthur to blush, not that it showed through his pale complexion.

"Thanks."

"So I guess you'll be continuing with Cobb's work?"

He paused reflectively. "It would be nice to live in reality for a while".

She laughed. "So I guess I'll see you around as a lawyer then?"

"I guess".

"Well when you are travelling around the world, let me know when you are in Paris."

"Be careful. I might just make good on your offer."

"Don't worry. I expect you to."

He stared at her in surprise. Realising what she said, Ariadne felt her face flush red.

"I meant…", she stammered.

"Thank you", he said softly, a genuine smile growing on his face. It was the first true smile she had seen on him, and she decided she quite liked it. She didn't know what to make of her mortification so she just kept quiet.

"Erm, so what now?" she asked.

Still smiling, Arthur said, "I guess we just get on with our lives".

"Yeah, it would be nice to build something in reality for once."

They both smiled knowingly.

"So it's the next flight to Paris for you?"

"I suppose so", she shrugged. "How about you? Where would you like to take your practice?".

He sniffed. "I'm not picky".

"How about New York? That's where the big guns are."

He chuckled. "I appreciate your confidence in me."

Ariadne blushed again for the umpteenth time that day. What was with this guy that he kept twisting her sentences?

" I…"

"What if I said Paris?" he raised his eyebrows.

She raised her own in challenge. "Then I say so be it."

"So be it?"

She shrugged. "It's not my business if you choose to practice in Paris. I should be happy wherever you choose. Besides, who am I to stop you?"

Arthur finished his expresso, looking at her over the rim of his cup. Ariadne huffed inwardly. Seriously what was with this guy? Playing enigma? She knew working with Arthur that he was an introvert and quiet man. He was a perfectionist, an intellectual. He went through the motions of his job in the most routine and clinical manner. He was predictable to say the least. But this behaviour…was wholly unexpected. In all honesty, she had never spoken to him besides talking about the mission, and never had they had a conversation that wasn't related to the mission or the team before. The only time that he acted ' out of character' (for him or for her, she couldn't decide) was during the kiss.

Ariadne stopped her inner monologue. Clearly they weren't making the situation any clearer. If anything, they made it more confusing.

They continued to look at each other when the PA system announced that the check-in counter for Air France was now open. Ariadne snapped out of her thoughts. Her last one of Arthur's slicked back hair had been pretty disturbing and she had been glad to stop that train of thought, not liking where it was leading up to.

"I guess I should be going"

Arthur blinked rapidly at her. For a moment she thought she detected a trace of disappointment flash across his face but it was quickly replaced by the usual mask of nonchalance he always wore.

"Let me help you."

* * *

Ariadne huffed loudly as she walked into her living room, her keys jingling in her right hand as she tried to not lose her grip on the many scrolls she held in her other hand. Using her left foot, she managed to close the door behind her, the resounding metal click indicating the door was properly locked and closed.

She was in her final year working on her designs for an environmentally-friendly building incoporating plants, natural light and a self-filtered sewage system which she hoped would bowl the examiners. If this project worked, it would double-up as her proposal and give her that ticket to the major architectural firms she'd been dreaming of joining ever since she wanted to be an architect. That was her old dream before being introduced to mysterious dreamworld she'd been part of less than a year ago. But she had to move on somehow.

Placing her plans on her coffee table, Ariadne sighed. After that mission, she hadn't been in touch with anyone. Not even Arthur. Sure she would get the occasional emails from Yusuf, the proper festivity types wishing you a happy new year and such. But that was Yusuf. Yusuf was just…nice.

After leaving the airport 10 months ago, she realised she made a fatal error. She had forgotten to ask for any contacts, leaving her with no means of contacting anyone. Yusuf had a sister studying at the same university as her which was why he contacted her. Otherwise, nope. No one.

She was a bit disappointed. She met a lot of good people in that team. Though the morality of the mission sometimes nagged her conscience, she was fortunate to work with the brightest and dedicated people. Eames is probably drinking himself silly somewhere in Scotland, Ariadne smirked. And Cobb, he was with his family. She smiled. She knew the demons Cobb had to face during their mission, and the pain he went through. She was happy that finally, he could find happiness at last. Saito got what he wanted, for Fischer's energy empire soon closed down mere months after their inception. He was now starting his own energy business in hopes to prove his father's memory wrong, which at the moment showed no signs of taking off. Not that Saito was worried it would. She believed the threat of another energy superpower was the furthest thing in his mind right now. After the mission, she couldn't guess what would be in his mind at all. The usually sharp and cunning business man had not been the same man they knew after their mission. He honoured his promise though, and paid handsomely, and perhaps that's' all that mattered.

There were many times she thought of Arthur though. Often, she would think of the time he sneaked that kiss out of her and that brought a laugh out of her everytime. And the flirting that happened at the café at the airport (Yes, she realised they were flirting. Outrageously. Or maybe just him seeing how quiet and collective he usually was). Sometimes thinking of Arthur brought about a sad smile. It was a pity to throw away their friendship, or beginnings of one, she thought. They did fall into a easy banter at times planning their mission, and they had an excellent working relationship. It was at the café when she realised she could also read how he felt, and that surprised her in retrospect seeing what a private man he was. Unless he was more unguarded around her, for reasons she dare not get into.

'There's no point going there!' she often chided herself when she found her thoughts had wandered off to uncharted territory. Thoughts of how it would be like if Arthur did like her, and what would happen afterwards if it were so. Did she like him back? Would she? She hardly knew the man. And his hair…

Ariadne puffed in indignation. His hair was disgusting. All sleeked back, probably with copious amounts of gel. He probably thought it made him look very sophisticated, or smart. She thought it made him look like a sleezeball. That was probably ungenerous of her, she knew, but the slick hairstyle just did not go down well with her. Now if his hair was all natural and loose…well…

'STOP!'. Ariadne groaned. Her thoughts ran away again. She really couldn't win. This 'what-if' reality was getting really annoying.

Just then the doorbell rang. Ariadne got off her sofa and looked through the peephole of her door. There was no one there.

As she was about to leave, she halted and looked at the door in fascination. She quickly grapsed the knob and opened the door, revealing a red rose upon a white envelope. Picking it up, she tore open the envelope, hoping to find contents that might reveal who sent her the rose. Nothing. Just a blank card from the florist the rose was sent from, it's address, and the customary message that they hoped she enjoyed their service.

She knew the florist well. During St Valentine's Day, the boys at her university would flock to the shop to order roses for their love interests. The shop had a special delivery service that left the person who ordered it anonymous by choice. She had seen the logo of the shop one too many times (her girlfriends' roses of course, though she had received one or two before) to mistaken it for another shop. Well the French had a thing for romance, and this florist was one of the best ones.

Sinking back into her sofa, she pinched the bridge of her nose. She had an admirer. A secret admirer who wanted to remain…a secret. Yeah, just great. She really wasn't in the mood for this.

Walking into the kitchen, she absentmindedly placed the rose in one of her vases and started getting ready for dinner. A secret admirer meant she would have to mull over the identity of her admirer. The whole thing meant effort and she was happy to just be left alone, but she couldn't not know. She was naturally curious. While taking her chicken out of the fridge, she prayed it was worth the effort and hoped to god it was a man.

* * *

"There's a man on the phone for you Sir", said a mousy-looking intern standing at his door.

"Thanks, which line is it?"

"Line 3"

He picked up the receiver and pressed the blinking digit on the phone.

"Arthur, a word in my office please."

"Right away."

Arthur straightened out his tie before making his way out of his office to see Mr. Broggs.

* * *

The office had a stunning view that overlooked the city and the Brooklyn Bridge. The skyline was stunning during the day, and even more breathtaking at night. In the middle of this spacious corner office sat a handsome mahogony table with a black sturdy armchair behind it. And behind it sat a big man around his sixties, with a thick bottle moustache and square glasses. He looked over said glasses as the sleeked-haired man knocked at his door.

Seeing him through his glass walls, he gestured Arthur to come in. When Arthur was seated, he threw a brown envelope in front of him. Arthur stared at the envelope for a moment and then looked up at the man expressionless.

"Does this mean you are rejecting my application?"

"This," the older man bristled, "is me asking you why the hell do you want to move?"

"I would like a change of scenery."

"Arthur…" Broggs started, clearly not allowing himself to be offset him by that pitiful excuse. "you are one of the best in our team. No legal representative has ever been as proficient or efficient as you have been. You are an asset to this company. You have more to gain by staying, more to lose by moving. Over there, you would have to adapt to a different set of laws, very different to the ones we have here. Our company is flourishing here, and here is where we need you to be."

"I could do some good for our branch over there. You know I'm not really leaving the company".

"I know." Broggs sighed. "It's just, I don't see what you stand to gain by moving to France. Your pay will be less, your demand even less, and the workload hell times more heavy. Really, why put yourself through that?"

"Like I said, I want a change of scenery. I like the challenge too."

Broggs gave him a withering stare. " You're a sucker for pain." He exhaled deeply.

"Fine. You get the job, you get to move. But don't say I didn't warn you. French laws can be pretty tricky business. Good luck learning them in a different language."

"Thank you".

Shaking his head ruefully, the older man took back the envelope and flipped it over to the front. Grabbing the the thick red stem on his right, Broggs stamped over his application, brandished his pen and wrote 'approved' in thick, capital letters on the front, signing it before he put it aside.

"It's done kiddo."

Arthur nodded gratefully at his boss. "Thank you sir."

* * *

It's been 2 months since she received her first rose. Many more came after that. It was so vexing that she thought of going down to the florist shop and demanding who had been sending her the roses. It always came like clockwork, once a week. But which time of the week, she wouldn't know. She tried catching the delivery person at the act, but always, always they had been able to disappear before she reached the door. It wasn't fair, living near the lift.

Each time the rose came accompanied with an envelope. And each time, the card had been blank. No 'I love you's or 'I miss you's or anything. No handwriting to go by. No message for her at all. Just a solitary rose, accompanied by a crisp white envelope. It was really getting on her nerves.

So, it came to no surprise then, by the time she received her 9th envelope, Ariadne was supremely annoyed. Grabbing the envelope, she made her way down the florist shop she knew so well, biking down the cobbled streets of Paris. When she arrived at the street, she headed straight for the shop, demanding to talk to the manager. When he came out, she started on him.

"I receive anonymous roses from your shop every week and I am sick of it! You tell me who is sending them to me? I want them stopped!", she spoke in rapid french.

"But madame, you know I cannot tell you. It is against our policy. We don't reveal our client's' names", said the flustered store manager.

"Then I shall sue you for harrassment!"

"No please wait!"

"Then you tell your client to stop sending them to me!"

"Wait, give me your address and I'll check", said the man, his hands shaking as he checked his database. Ariadne gave him his address as he keyed in the details. When he entered the details, whatever showed up on the system made him frown in the most perplexed manner.

"But we can't…"

"What do you mean you _can't? _You can't or you won't?"

"We really can't madame. An overseas account deposits the money and gives us strict instructions on how to deliever these roses."

"An overseas account?" asked Ariadne in bewilderment.

"Yes."

"Why would…nevermind", she shook her head, trying to understand the bizzareness of it all. "Can you contact this client?"

"That's the thing", said the worried storekeeper. "The person has left no number or address for us to contact them."

"And you just allow that to happen?", she asked incredulously. "What kind of policies does your shop have? How can you allow such harrassment to occur?"

"Madame, it's not like that. We've always been about protecting the identity of the clients. That is why our business is so successful."

"And you have never spared a thought for those being harrassed?"

The man shrugged apologetically. "This is our first ever case. We've never had such cases before."

"Well you have one now so you better start thinking!". She stormed out of the flower shop and hopped on her bike.

"Madame!", the poor manager ran after her. "How about you take these flowers? Courtesy of…"

"I DON'T WANT ANY FLOWERS!", she yelled.

The man whimpered. "I'm sorry but we have to keep delivering. The money is sent to us despite your objections. We have to deliver the service."

Ariadne rolled her eyes at the manager. "How about I pay you to stop the roses from coming?"

The manager shifted at his feet. "That would be unethical madam…"

"Oh screw your ethics!", she huffed and she cycled away in anger. It was an impossible situation. She knew the manager was just being honest. But she didn't need an honest florist. She just wanted the flowers to stop coming.

When she turned off the lights as she walked back into her apartment, she wondered what would an overseas guy (she hoped it was a guy!) would want to have anything to do with her? She immediately thought of Arthur and her heart skipped a beat. But Arthur wasn't the only guy she knew that was living overseas. There was Eames, Yusuf and all her friends back in America too.

Feeling a headache coming on, she went into her bedroom and buried her face into her pillows. What was this madness? While she prayed that it might be Arthur (wishful thinking, she grumbled), she couldn't see him doing something as romantic as this. He was too methodical. Too rigid. This seemed like something out of his comfort zone. She shook her head and laughed. She talked like as if she knew the guy! She had only spend a handful of weeks with him. How would she know how he's truly like?

As for Eames and Yusuf? Yes, Eames certainly did seem the type, but the very idea that he would be sending roses to her, of all people, sent her in a fit of laughter. She certainly wasn't his type, and as charming as he may be, he would have revealed himself by now, knowing he had a tendancy to show off.

Yusuf, well, she chuckled, he was a dear. But he was also the kind of man whom she found was timid and not very self-assured. He would probably send a rose. But to keep sending without knowing her reaction, without knowing if it were well-received seemed unlikely. He wouldn't have sent roses for this long.

Taking out the crumbled envelope, in a jolt of inspiration she decided to hold it against the light.

Nothing.

Grumbling, she had another stroke of inspiration. Lighting a scented candle, she held the envelope over the naked flame and waited for words to appear on the paper.

Nothing.

She tried the other cards and envelopes but all her efforts came to nil. She was at her wits end. What was the point of sending a card if you had nothing to write in it?

* * *

_He was falling. Fierce winds whipped from his back and he felt he was plummeting into the darkness. Suddenly everything around him came to a stop. Suspended in animation, he looked around and took in his surroundings. He was at a room. A very familiar room. _

_Just as he realised which room he was in, like a dam broke lose, he fell to the ground from mid-air. _

"_Ouch", he rubbed the back of his neck and stood up quickly to survey his surroundings. They were back at the workshop, the place where they engineered the inception._

_A rustling sound came to his left and he twirled around, his hand stuck into his pocket, searching out his totem._

"_Arthur?"_

_He froze in shock, just like the other million times he had when he dreamt of her. She would stand there, her hair let down, cascading past her shoulders in brown, chocolaty waves. Her vibrantly patterned scarf would hang loosely in front of her blouse and cardigan, subtly hugging and complementing the curves she had. _

_He would never admit to a living soul that he had those curves memorised. During the times they were planning the inception together, he denied having any feelings for her. Whenever he caught himself glancing at her direction, he would kid himself saying he was just looking out for her. He didn't want her to be involved in the first place after all, and someone had to see she would be okay with assimilating all the information she'd been given. So he continued to look out for her. And look he did._

_Now in his slumber, he could unbashfully look at her without denial. He knew he had fallen deep when he lost his control and stole a kiss from her during their mission. He forgot he wasn't in his dream but the mission's, and his slip cost him a lot of bumbling and awkwardness around her after their inception. _

"_Ariadne?" he breathed, walking closer to her, totem forgotten._

_She smiled ethereally at him. She beckoned him to come closer near her work table, a table that once was buried under diagrams and models she made for architecting their plans._

_He walked closer, his breath hitching in his chest. He was nervous and afraid. He had never felt so vulnerable as he did now. However, as she smiled at him, he knew there was nothing he wanted more than to be together. And so he walked closer._

_Only she wasn't coming any closer. Puzzled, he began to sprint forward, but if anything else, she appeared to be further away. _

"_What's going on?" , he asked._

"_You've forgotten me", said she accusingly, her eyes full of tears._

"_No I haven't!", he panicked, the room getting foggier and dimmer as he ran closer to her._

"_You have, and so it shall be," said the projection, turning away from him._

"_No! Wait, please come back, let me explain…". But the room was completely dark and misty by then, and Ariadne was no where to be seen._

"_No. Ariadne! Where are you?", he shouted through the fog, fumbling around the workshop hoping to find her. But he couldn't. No matter how he tried, he couldn't see past the thick fog in front of him, in the dark. No matter which direction he ran, he never ran into walls, into furniture. It was like he was stuck in an abyss of space and time. _

_He sat down, tired and broken. He was alone, and he was tired of it. Gasping for air, he shouted into the darkness for the very last time, "Ariadne! Where are you?". Hearing no response, he wiped the sweat off his brow and tried to come to terms he might have lost her forever. _

"_But you know where I am", said her voice near his ear. Arthur turned around in shock, but before he could turn, the ground crumpled beneath him and he was falling once again. _

"Sir?"

Arthur woke blearily into conciousness. The first thing he saw was the faint outline of a woman in front of him.

"Ariadne?"

"Erm, no sir", blushed the air stewardess. "Please fasten your seat belt. We are getting ready to arrive at Charles de Gaulle airport."

Arthur straightened up and fasten his seat belt. He had been dreaming of her again. He had started having them 8 months ago, 2 months after he last saw her. At first, they were disturbing. They haunted him for weeks. He didn't understand why he was plagued by these dreams. Yes he missed her, but the falling…

However as soon as he realised that the dreams were a manifestation of his fears, he knew what he had to do. After he established himself as a legal adviser and representative of a struggling business empire in a short few months, he gained the respect and recognition of the company, as well as others. It allowed him the flexibility to make the decision to move, which he jumped on with little hesitation.

It had been 2 months since he had that dream. It's reoccurance made him a little concerned.

'Maybe you are just scared of failure', he told himself, trying to coax his thumping heart to a normal rate. 'You're scared you are too late, and now that you are going to see her, your fears have come back.'

But as hard as he tried, he couldn't swallow down that fear.

* * *

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Thump!

Ariadne lazily switched off her alarm clock and swaggered out of bed. Today was her final exam. After this she could finally sleep normally!

After a cold shower and a hot breakfast, Ariadne cycled to the university, making her way to the examination room thirty minutes early. Leaving the campus three hours later, she walked in her zombie-like state to the closest café she could find. She opted for the café just opposite her flat. As she brought the rich coffee blend to touch the edge of her lips, she hummed a sigh of contentment. She sipped as she observed the strong gales of wind outside the café, wreaking havoc on the many umbrellas and newspapers of pedestrains walking down the streets.

As she drank her coffee, she noticed a black taxi pull in front of the building she lived. She noticed casually that someone was alighting the car and making their way inside the building. But when she caught a glimpse of his head, she almost dropped her cup in shock. Immediately her hands made for the totem she hid in her inside pocket. Feeling it in her hand, she quickly stood up and made to leave. It wasn't a dream, and she recognised that hair from anywhere.

Arthur was rocking in the lift. What if she wasn't in? What if she was? What would he say? What if she didn't live there anymore? Was this the right address? Maybe he should have called her before he came?

As the lift doors opened, he realised there was nothing for it, and that he couldn't turn back now. He walked to her door and pressed the buzzer.

No answer.

Arthur was tempted to leave and come again another day but his hand remained posed in front of the buzzer. And so he pressed again.

No answer.

"Ariadne?", he said softly, this time knocking on her door.

"She isn't in", said a voice behind him.

Not daring to believe it, he slowly turned around and came face to face with the beaming brunette.

"I was just popping by to let her know I was in town, making sure she made good on her offer", he smiled at her, his face he was sure, a mixture of astonishment and disbelief.

She smirked. "I'll let her know when she comes back then shall I?"

"Well if you are going to pass her a message, can you pass this for me?"

"Sure…", she smirked, before her smile was wiped off and replaced by his lips. His arms slowly went around her and he brought her closely to him. He was sweet and gentle, caressing her hair as he kissed her. Ariadne couldn't believe he was here with her. But it wasn't a dream was it?

Arthur was the first to break the kiss. He stared at her with wonderment, caressing her face, thinking those same thoughts. "Please tell me you are real?", he quietly pleaded.

"I've been wondering the same thing. I went for my totem the second I saw you", she whispered back.

"And what did you find?"

"That I'm not dreaming". And with that she jumped him and kissed him with a fervor he never felt before. She managed to back him against her door and assault his senses in the most delicious way possible. Minutes later, he realised they were no longer standing in the corridor but were on sofa in her living room. He didn't know how they got there, but he felt he cared less and less as he lost himself in the sensations she was stirring in him.

* * *

"_So"._

Ariadne stumbled in shock as she walked into her kitchen. At some point during their kissing, she had fallen asleep. In her defense it was completely out of pure exhaustion. The pure exhaustion, of course, completely being due to her lack of sleep. Completely.

For a moment she thought she dreamt it all. She found herself waking up in her bed, alone, thinking she must be having one of her Arthur dreams again, wishing so much that it were real. How many times had she wanted him to visit her? For him to unexpectedly show up on her doorstep. Alas, it was a dream, though she was so convinced it wasn't. She seeked out her totem and found it in her pocket. She wasn't sleeping then, and she wasn't sleeping now. How odd.

Promising to think about it more after some food, she walked into her kitchen looking for a snack when she was disturbed by a familiar voice.

"So"?

She turned around and found Arthur sitting on her bar stool behind the small division that seperated her living room from her kitchen.

"You've finally awaken."

"Oh thank god, I thought it was a dream!", she clutched her chest. Arthur made his way to her and hugged her closely. She looked up and fingered the locks that came down his face.

"You know I've always hated your hairstyle?"

"What's wrong with it?", he asked, squirming under her observation.

"I always thought it made you look like a sleezeball…", she laughed at the expression of incredulity on his face and pecked him on the cheek. "But I've always fantasized about how your hair would look like when it was natural…."

"- And?", he pressed on.

"And I think you should get a haircut", she said simply. His jaw dropped with shock and she laughed so hard.

"I was just kidding!"

"Just kidding?", he shook his head with disbelief. "You're gonna pay for that!".

And he started the chase.

* * *

"You know something?"

"Hmm?", mumbled Arthur through his wine glass. It had been 2 months since he moved to Paris and been with Ariadne. In those amazing 2 months he had all he ever wanted. She was his family, she was his life. He had only wished he'd realise how much she meant to him sooner so he wouldn't have wasted so much time.

"I have a secret admirer", she winked, as the waiter refilled her glass with water.

He knew it was too good to be true.

"Who is he?", he asked, losing all his appetite.

"How do you know it's a 'he'? For all you know it could be a 'she'!", she grimaced, looking at her dessert.

"Do I know him?", he pressed, needing to know.

"I don't know him myself! How can I tell you if I do?", she said shaking her head. "Anyway, the attention stopped once you came over. I think he or she sensed that I was involved with someone now." She winked at him again.

She was going to be the death of him.

"What did he send you?"

"Why do you keep assuming it is a he? Well any rate, there was a period where he would keep sending me a rose each week with a blank card. If I wasn't so curious and angry, I would have been creeped out." She took another bite of her ice-cream.

"You were angry at him?", he smirked, finding her reaction amusing.

"Well, yeah. Firstly who sends cards that are blank for no good reason? Who does that? And after 2 months of sending roses, don't you want the other person to know who you are? I mean, isn't that the reason why you sent the roses anyway?".

Arthur looked deep in thought. "What else was in them?"

"Nothing. Just the address", she said in a matter-of-factly tone. "I'm telling you, whoever that person was, he or she was psycho."

He raised his eyebrow at her. He raised his hand to signal for the bill and they left the resturant. As they walked down the street, Arthur held her hand. "There is something I like to show you."

Smiling uncertainly, Ariadne followed Arthur down the allyways and onto a street that she instantly knew, with startling realisation, held the florist shop.

"Why are you bringing me here?"

"Shh", he smiled, taking her hand and bringing her to stand on the street across the florist shop.

"Now tell me what you see?", he prompted her.

She squinted at the flower shop and sniffed. "A lousy flower shop".

"No, look a bit harder." He pointed at the shop again.

Ariadne stared hard at the flower shop but she didn't get what she was suppose to see.

"Arthur, I don't…"

"Look at the shop lot number."

And that was when she realised the biggest clue had been on the card all along. The shop.

Shop lot number 528.

* * *

A/N: Hello! This is my first fanfiction on . It's also my first Inception fanfic. Just watched the movie yesterday and was completely bowled over by the whole thing. I loved the originality, I loved the characters, I loved it all! But there wasn't a lot of character development, which is a pity, but Ariadne and Arthur share one of the film's light moments and I instantly loved this pairing. I'm not sure whether I brought their characters any justice. I just wrote this story in the spur of the moment. So if there are plot holes or you find the story is poorly developed, just so you know, I pretty much wrote it out of the back of my head. So forgive me if you find the story lacking. It was a plot bunny I had to get out somehow. Anyways I hope you enjoy it! (:


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